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Ohio House Bill specific provisions continued

A Kennel Authority would be created to write regulations, administer the law and control virtually everything done by dog owners. The Authority’s politically appointed Board of Directors would be heavily weighted toward animal rights activists. Only one person who raises dogs and one person representing pet stores would be on the Board. There is no legislative or judicial oversight over the decisions of this board.

This committee would be given a free hand to design and implement all of the rules for kennel licensing, inspections and paperwork, as well as all construction, maintenance and management requirements..

The board will require every kennel owner and “any other person” who sells even one dog to obtain a tax vendor number. You must pay sales tax for selling even one dog or puppy.

Each applicant for any kind of kennel license will be subjected to a criminal background check by the state Attorney General.

Every license applicant must post insurance or a bond to cover the state’s cost of enforcing the law at the kennel.

The Board is given a completely blank check to write “any other requirements and procedures” to define and enforce the law. People with animal rights beliefs will have total control over the lives of dog owners.

Anyone who buys, offers to sell, sells or gives away nine or more dogs a year is intensely regulated and licensed as a dealer, which is called a “dog intermediary” in the legislation. Anyone who sells even one dog or puppy to a pet store also is considered a dealer.

Kennel owners would no longer be allowed to treat even minor ailments or injuries, possibly even including parasites, which are now defined as a disease. All treatments must be done by a veterinarian.

No one can sell a dog at any public place, which would include field trials, dog shows and other canine gatherings. All sales must be at the kennel facility.

The state is required to inspect “any facility…upon request of a member of the public” or a public or quasi-public official. That means that animal rights activists can demand and get state inspections of the home and property of anyone who has dogs, without making or proving any allegation of a violation, and without producing proof of any kind. This will lead to continual and frightening harassment of law-abiding dogs owners by animal rights groups, and the state must respond to all requests for inspections, even if they are obviously bogus.

Inspectors are given absolute and incontestable power to enter and inspect “any public or private property” to see if a violation of the law has occurred. There is no requirement for a search warrant or probable cause (a warrant is an option method, but is not required). Anyone who refuses to allow an inspection, or hinders it, can be assessed for the entire cost to the state to investigate and prosecute, including wages and expenses for an unlimited number of state officials.

Any dog may be impounded if the state has probable cause to believe any violation of the law has occurred, but probable cause is not required to presented before a court, as is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. A hearing before the state agency is set within five days, and the dogs could be permanently forfeited to face adoption or euthanasia. A dog owner cannot appeal to a local court, but can appeal only to the Environmental Division of the Franklin County Municipal Court, and the kennel owner must post a bond. The state agency thus becomes the cop, prosecutor, judge and jury.

Civil penalties ranging up to $15,000 can be imposed administratively (with no appeal) for violations, and separate penalties can be assigned for every dog in violation for every day it is in violation. Thus, a dog owner can be destroyed financially without ever getting his or her day in court, even for minor or accidental infractions.

The state “shall deny” a license to any person who has violated any part of the law or any rule, and that includes paperwork deficiencies, accidental mistakes and minor technical errors.

The state “shall deny” a license to anyone who “does not have the expertise or capacity to comply” with the law or regulations. That gives the state absolute power to judge the qualifications of anyone to own a dog, and no objective standards are defined. The decision is entirely subjective. There is no appeal. This also means that most poor and working class people could be denied licensure simply because they don’t have enough money to meet all of the state’s insatiable demands. This is a very real issue in today’s troubled economy, and Ohio is among the states hardest hit by the current deep recession.

No puppy under 12 weeks of age can be sold unless the litter is registered with the state. This essentially creates a database of every dog in Ohio, which many dog owners think will be used someday to mandate pet sterilization or ban certain breeds of dogs.

The law provides exacting specifications for kennel sizes, construction and temperature control, and allows the Board to create even more stringent regulations. These rules effectively prohibit a dog owner from raising puppies inside his or her own home, and also effectively ban outdoor housing in the winter for most breeds of dogs (it may exclude hunting and sled dogs, but there is some ambiguity in the language) if the water cannot be kept unfrozen 24 hours a day. The use of crates to train dogs kept in a home also is effectively banned.

Except for dogs that are continuously confined to a kennel, any dog that is found without a collar and license tag (even inside the owner’s home) can be seized, sold or killed. This would appear to include puppies, as the word “dog” is not defined.

No person or group who is licensed as a dog rescue would be allowed to breed any dogs or raise any puppies. This would destroy the breed rescue network in Ohio, as most of the participants actually raise the breed they are helping to rescue.

And reams of time-consuming paperwork and compliance documentations would be required, and minor omissions or errors could cause a license to be denied or revoked.

It is the belief of the American Sporting Dog Alliance that the terms of HB 124 that are outlined above will combine to force almost every kennel in Ohio to close its doors. The combination of stringent rules, unreasonable liabilities and draconian enforcement measures will either result in kennels being closed by the state, or kennel owners being scared and intimidated into quitting to avoid the probability that the state would destroy their lives.

Please do not take our word for it. We want you to read this legislation yourself and form your own conclusions.

Contact the members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and express your concerns with HB 124 and your support for responsible breeding in Ohio. The Committee’s contact information is as follows:


Representative John Domenick (Chairman)

Phone: (614) 466-3735
Fax: (614) 719-6995
Email: district95@ohr.state.oh.us[/email]



Representative Allan Sayre (Vice Chair)

Phone: (614) 466-8035
Fax: (614) 719-6996
Email: district96@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Jeff Wagner (Ranking Minority Member)

Phone: (614) 466-1374
Fax: (614) 719-6981
Email: district81@ohr.state.oh.us[/email]



Representative Richard Adams

Phone: (614) 466-8114
Fax: (614) 719-3979
Email: district79@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Linda Bolon

Phone: (614) 466-8022
Fax: (614) 719-6971
Email: district01@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Troy Balderson

Phone: (614) 644-6014
Fax: (614) 719-6994
Email: district94@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Dan Dodd

Phone: (614) 466-2500
Fax: (614) 719-6991
Email: district91@ohr.state.oh.us[/email]



Representative Terry Boose

Phone: (614) 466-9628
Fax: (614) 719-3958
Email: district58@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Jennifer Garrison

Phone: (614) 644-8728
Fax: (614) 719-6993
Email: district93@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Timothy Derickson

Phone: (614) 644-5094
Fax: (614) 719-6953
Email: district53@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Dennis Murray

Phone: (614) 644-6011
Fax: (614) 719-6980
Email: district80@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Matthew Dolan

Phone: (614) 644-5088
Fax: (614) 719-6998
Email: [email]district98@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Deborah Newcomb

Phone: (614) 466-1405
Fax: (614) 719-6999
Email: district99@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Dave Hall

Phone: (614) 466-2994
Fax: (614) 719-6997
Email: district97@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Mark Okey

Phone: (614) 466-1464
Fax: (614) 719-3961
Email: district61@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Margaret Ruhl

Phone: (614) 466-1431
Fax: (614) 719-6990
Email: [email]district90@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative Raymond Pryor

Phone: (614) 644-7928
Fax: (614) 719-6985
Email: district85@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative W. Carlton Weddington

Phone: (614) 466-5343
Fax: (614) 719-3581
Email: district27@ohr.state.oh.us



Representative James Zehringer

Phone: (614) 466-6344
Fax: (614) 719-3977
Email: [email]district77@ohr.state.oh.us

Puppy Mills

Well the people operating puppy mills are the ones responsible for stirring all this up. They treat their dogs horrifically and brutally, Keep them in conditions any dog person cannot imagine.

I have seen it first hand, it makes me sick. As dog owners we should hold people operating kennels like that accountable and we would not have this problem now.

__________________
Winners train,Loosers complain.

I agree with responsable dog ownership but regardless of the poorly run puppy mills the HSUS and PETA will not stop untill all rights are taken from dog owners and sportsman of every kind. They believe animals should only run free in the wild. The legislation in HB 124 targets most of us not just the inhumane puppy mills.